Father of son murdered by Iran: Sanctions-lift will aid regime, not people

"They will spend the money in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, and Palestine. They will not spend it on Iranians,”

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
A man wearing a protective face mask, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), sits at a bus stop in Qom, Iran March 24, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS)
A man wearing a protective face mask, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), sits at a bus stop in Qom, Iran March 24, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS)
BERLIN – Manouchehr Bakhtiari, whose son Pouya was gunned down by the security of forces of the Islamic Republic for his protest against rising gasoline prices, urged on Friday that sanctions relief not be provided to Tehran’s rulers.
“If sanctions are lifted, the regime will sell oil and other natural resources of Iran to buy guns to kill our children with them,” said Manouchehr Bakhtiari.
The Iranian human rights activist and dissident Masih Alinejad tweeted on Friday: “He is the father of Pouya Bakhtiyari, young Iranian mercilessly killed by the Revolutionary Guards during Iran Protests of November 2019.
He asked me to relay this video to Persian-speaking and international news outlets.
He has a few words on sanctions on the Islamic Republic.”

Bakhtiari said in the video that  “The regime will spend that money on relatives of officials. They will spend the money in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine. They will not spend it on Iranians,” adding that “any money the Islamic Republic receives, it spends it on its own needs rather than on the people.”
He noted. That “If the international community and the UN really want to help Iranians, they should help directly. I ask the World Health Organization to designate a representative in Iran and help Iranians directly.”


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